Originally, I wanted to call this article, ‘How to Launch at SXSW on a Shoestring Budget’ but it wasn’t specific enough

“How to Launch @ SXSW for $460″ has tactical, granular sound that resonates with what my mentor (see his bookcover picture HEREhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0615301487/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1284941369&sr=8-1) taught me about promotion at a real world event. It’s an example of “What They Will NEVER Teach You At StanfordBusiness School”. Having the thesis that it costs just $460.00 definitely puts me in the minority.

There’s talk about how there is a lot of noise at SXSW and how it will be too crowded to promote anything. Thatreminds me of the Yogi Berra quote: “No one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” I find it funny that you expect to compete on the Internet, where there is much more noise than at an Austin conference.

But do not make the mistake that most people make journeying to Austin for SXSW. Showing up and hoping for thebest is not a good plan. Whether you are launching, re-promoting, or just pre-entrepreneuring… Here are specific ideas on how to increase awareness at sxsw for $460 or less.

1) The Patented Afterparty Maneuver.

By patented I mean “an awesome thing you can exactly copy.”You take whatever existing event you like and you do your own event immediately after.

For example, back when Facebook was rising, they’d do a big party at Pangeae. I did an afterparty across the street. Ididn’t do open bar and just had light food. The Facebook party was awesome, but people want a place to linger. The theme I used was refresh and rejuvenate.

Hosting a stand-alone event is hard, but an unofficial afterparty may be much easier and cheaper.

2) Hack Together a VIP Author Reception.

Getting a celeb to your informal gathering can be as cheap as $200. In this day when 13,000 books sold can get you on the NY Times Bestseller list, a few extra copies sold moves the needle.

For example, Guy Kawasaki is promoting a new book, Enchantment. If I were a startup founder with a $450 budget, I’dbuy 20 used copies of Guy’s OLD book and hand them out March 13 (2 hours after he judges Accelerator). Plot spoiler: used books can cost as little as $0.01.

3) Infiltrate and Produce a SXSW Film Reception

Overlapping the SXSW Interactive festival is the film festival. Getting a film celeb to an event is getting a real celebrity versus a welebrity.

The idea is the same as getting an author, except the cost slide scales up. Instead of pre-promoting a book, the actor ispre-promoting a movie. The last few years Edward Norton, James Marsden, Danny McBride have promoted movies in Austin.

4) Make Your Audience Pay You to Do Lead Gen.

This is the opposite for “pay-for-play.” It means get paid for play.

You do not need to just spend money… you can actually charge people while you build awareness. You can get paid to generate leads and awareness. Here is how: charge for admission and do not provide free alcohol.

A. Get a focus and a theme. Lets say you pick #csMajorCEOB. Get an RSVP page up on Eventbrite and Facebook C. Tie in a celebrity componentD. Do partnerships with blogs, startups, and personalities to help promote themE. Get and control a venue and book a back-up venue

5) Pre-network.

In this age of “everything is faster” and Moore’s Law, I think you should get your ROI for the party/conference BEFORE you even go.

For example, you can drive the registrations through a Facebook groups page. Having people “Facebook fan” you ispresumptuous. Getting people to write on a Facebook group wall (which makes them join) is social.

6) Get Local.

If you’re from California, the best thing you can do is get away from California people.

In producing an event for $450, you can enlist the help of local Austin-ites. If you’re charging, offer comp passes. If its free, offer comp demo booths so that companies can demonstrate their offerings but with the requirement that they pre-blog the event.

7) Pre-blog Your Own Event.

When someone asks me to blog about them, the first question I have is, did you blog about it yourself?

Pre-blogging is critical. If you’re only spending $460, preblogging once or twice before your launch is critical. For those founders who have never blogged or rarely blog, the bare minimum for a post is simply three paragraphs, two pictures and one focus. It relates specifically to event promotion because before you promote an event, you have to elevate you and your brand. An inexpensive way to do this is to pre-blog

For example, freshman Stanford CS majors with zero budget were encouraged to blog as a way to engineer three internships in a row and gain access to expensive conferences. Kiki Garcia pre-blogged about

This post was drafted in an hour and needs your edits… email me if you see a spelling or grammatical error(s)… larry@larrychiang com Larry Chiang started his first company UCMS in college. He mimicked his mentor, Mark McCormack, founder of IMG who wrote the book, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School”. Chiang is a keynote speaker and bestselling author and spoke at Congress and World Bank.

Text or call him during office hours 11:11am or 11:11pm PST +/-11 minutes at 650-283-8008. Due to the volume of calls, he may place you on hold like a Scottsdale Arizona customer service rep. If you email him, be sure to include your cell number in the subject line. If you want him to email you his new articles…, ask him in an email

About the Author:

Larry Chiang

Larry Chiang investigates and experiences entrepreneurship and pre-entrepreneurship. He covers the front-lines via Bloomberg BusinessWeek's channel “What They Don’t Teach You at Business School”. He has a JBA not an MBA. Its a Jedi in Business Administration. After Chiang’s Harvard Law keynote, Harvard Business wrote: “What They Don’t Teach You at Stanford Business School“ . If you read his scandalously awesome "How to Hack at AfterParty", “What a Supermodel Can Teach a Stanford MBA” and “How to Get Man-Charm”, you will like his latest post.

by Brian Solis My pal Frank Gruber of SomewhatFrank and I are running a quick online survey to see how you would end this sentence, “Web 2.0 is…” Yes, we know every classical definition, the history, the arguments for and against it, opinions, and everything in between.